The Weekly Trojan

Well it's been awhile, but I thought I would share some stories from this week. First of all, we had state testing all this week, which made things hectic. Each morning the students tested for 2 hours then we crammed 8 periods into the remaing 5 hours. In a way, it was kind of nice since I was able to get a lot done during the testing. The whole testing thing is kind of a crock, but I guess it's a result of the No Child Left Behind bologna. Apparently the results help us determine what kind of school we are. That's great when you hear kids say things like, "I was tired so I just guessed on most of the questions." Thanks.

Anyway, here are two real conversations that I had with 8th grade students. Emphasis on 8th grade.

First, I over heard two students talking and one was discussing his sister and her work.

Me: What does your sister do?
Student: She's an exotic dancer.
(Awkward silence)
Me: Maybe we shouldn't discuss that in class.
Student: Well, she brings home a couple of hundred dollars a night. Of course she has to, to pay for a rack like that.
Me: CLASS DISMISSED!

Ok, I made the last line up, but how do you respond to that statement?? On a side note, the 3 towns that make up our school district probably total to about 6,000 people. Well, there are two gentlemen's clubs. Let's just say you feel like taking a shower after driving past them.

Second coversation occurred this morning after I see a student who looks as if she's in a bad mood.

Me: How's it going today?
Student: This is a terrible day.
Me: It's only 8 am, how can it be terrible?
Student: My friend forgot to pick me up for school so I went to ask my mom if she would take me. She was drunk (just a reminder this occurred before school!!) and started yelling at me, so I called my grandmother to come get me.
Me: Well, it's early, I'm sure your day will get better.

So these are two examples of the type of home lives some of our kids come from. It puts things in perspective especially when they are acting up or doing poorly in school. It's not necessiraly an excuse, but it definitely makes your heart go out to them even when they act like knuckleheads.

Well, that's all for this week. Have a great weekend.